.\" Copyright 2015-2021 Roderick W. Smith (rodsmith@rodsbooks.com)
.\" May be distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 or
any later version
.TH "MVREFIND" "8" "0.13.2" "Roderick W. Smith" "rEFInd Manual"
.SH "NAME"
mvrefind \- Move a rEFInd installation from one location to another
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.BI "mvrefind \fISOURCE DEST\fR"

.SH "DESCRIPTION"

Move a rEFInd installation from \fISOURCE\fR to \fIDEST\fR, where both
\fISOURCE\fR and \fIDEST\fR are directories on the EFI System Partition
(ESP), with \fISOURCE\fR containing a working rEFInd installation. This
operation entails taking several actions:

.TP 
.B *
Renaming the \fISOURCE\fR directory to \fIDEST\fR.

.TP 
.B *
Renaming the rEFInd binary to a suitable value given the new destination.
For instance, if \fIDEST\fR is EFI/BOOT on the EFI System Partition (ESP),
the rEFInd binary should be \fIbootx64.efi\fR (or something similar but
with a different architecture code).

.TP 
.B *
Altering the computer's NVRAM entries to point to rEFInd at its new
location.

.TP
.B *
If Shim is detected, renaming operations and NVRAM entry pointers are
adjusted appropriately.

.TP
.B *
If the \fIDEST\fR exists, its contents are preserved.

.PP

Broadly speaking, \fImvrefind\fR understands three types of locations for
both \fISOURCE\fR and \fIDEST\fR, relative to the root of the ESP:

.TP
.B *
\fBEFI/BOOT\fR -- The \fIbootx64.efi\fR (or similar for other
architectures) filename in this location is the "fallback filename," which
is used by removable boot media and as a boot loader of last resort on hard
disks. Some EFIs can't remember their normal boot entries, and on them,
rEFInd must be installed here (or as the Windows boot loader). When this
directory is the \fIDEST\fR and it already exists, the existing
\fIEFI/BOOT\fR is backed up to \fIEFI/BOOT\-rEFIndBackup\fR; and if the
\fISOURCE\fR is \fIEFI/BOOT\fR and \fIEFI/BOOT\-rEFIndBackup\fR exists, it
is renamed to \fIEFI/BOOT\fR after rEFInd is moved to its destination.

.TP
.B *
\fBEFI/Microsoft/boot\fR -- The \fIbootmgfw.efi\fR file in this location
normally holds the Windows boot loader. Machines with broken EFIs may
refuse to accept or remember proper boot entries and will instead boot this
entry in preference to all others. In such cases, using rEFInd requires
moving the Microsoft boot loader elsewhere and replacing it with rEFInd.
When this directory is the \fIDEST\fR, \fImvrefind\fR moves the original
\fIbootmgfw.efi\fR file down one level (to \fIEFI/Microsoft\fR) and stores
\fIrefind_x64.efi\fR (or Shim) in that location. When moving from
\fIEFI/Microsoft/boot\fR, this process is reversed.

.TP
.B *
\fBAnything else\fR -- Any other \fISOURCE\fR or \fIDEST\fR location is
treated as a regular rEFInd installation, with a proper NVRAM entry created
by \fIefibootmgr\fR.

.PP 

\fImvrefind\fR attempts to identify the ESP and refuses to move between the
ESP and any other partition. When it does move files, it moves the main
rEFInd binary, the \fIrefind.conf\fR file, any identified Shim binary, and
the \fIicons\fR, \fIicons\-backup\fR, \fIdrivers_*\fR, and \fIkeys\fR
subdirectories. If other rEFInd files or directories are present in
\fISOURCE\fR (such as a custom theme/icons directory), they will not be
moved. If \fISOURCE\fR is empty after the specified files and
subdirectories are moved, \fISOURCE\fR will be deleted.

.SH "AUTHORS"
Primary author: Roderick W. Smith (rodsmith@rodsbooks.com)

.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR mkrlconf (8),
.BR refind-install (8).

\fIhttps://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/\fR

.SH "AVAILABILITY"
The \fBmvrefind\fR command is part of the \fIrEFInd\fR package and is
available from Roderick W. Smith.
